HabitGotchi, a habit tracker without the guilt
A pixel-art companion that keeps no count while you're away.
In a nutshell. HabitGotchi is a small habit-tracking app inspired by the virtual pets of the 90s. You tick off what you did during your day, and a little character lives its own life on the side, in its own scenery.
There are no streaks to keep and no score. Above all, there is no penalty when you come back after a break. It's free, there's no account to create, and your data never leaves your device.
Around the character, there's a whole little world to explore: a generative garden, a studio, mini-games, a shop. And an optional AI layer, for those who want it.
Why there are no streaks
Most habit apps are built around the streak: a count of consecutive days that you must never break. It's supposed to keep you motivated. For a lot of people, it does exactly the opposite.
The day the streak drops back to zero, the counter no longer tells a story of progress: it tells a story of failure. And an app that makes you feel like you failed is an app you uninstall. The tracking stops right where it should have carried on.
HabitGotchi starts from the opposite idea. Being irregular isn't a flaw to fix, it's a starting point. You can vanish for three days or three weeks: when you come back, nothing has been counted, nothing has withered, nobody asks you to explain yourself. The character is simply there.
How it works
You list the habits you want to follow. Each day, you tick the ones you did. The ones you didn't do leave no trace.
Meanwhile, your Gotchi lives. It wanders through its scenery, finds objects, and sends you odd little thoughts. It isn't a mirror of your performance: it's a character to get to know, not a dashboard of your failures. What you tick feeds its world, but what you don't tick never destroys it.
The app installs on your phone's home screen like a regular app, and works offline.
What's inside
The Gotchi is just the way in. Behind it, a small world unfolds over time, and much of that world is generated: nothing is quite the same from one person to the next.
A garden that grows on its own
A patch of land that fills up over time, with what you tick and with your visits. Grass, flowers, mushrooms, stones, ivy. Each shoot is drawn on the fly, and no two look alike. You don't really garden it: you watch it live.
A studio, and strange things growing in it
First, the gallery: pixel-art paintings that unlock as you go. Then the mandala, a canvas you color pigment by pigment. And the symbiote, a creature you feed with offerings and that grows a little crooked, in a direction you don't entirely choose.
Pigments and offerings are earned by ticking habits, or bought at the shop with petals.
Mini-games
Crystals, bubbles, potions. Nothing serious, and that's the point.
Ways to make your Gotchi your own
Its name, its colors, its voice. Objects to buy with petals and place in its scenery, so it lives somewhere that looks a bit like you.
A calendar
You can note appointments there and get a notification when the time comes. The appointment's title never leaves your device: it's put back together locally when the notification is shown.
An AI layer, only if you want it
It is entirely optional and stays off until you switch it on. When it's on, the Gotchi has daily thoughts, offers you a recap of your week, and opens a support mode where you can write to it.
It works with an API key you provide yourself, and in that case the text goes through Anthropic. That's spelled out in the privacy policy, because it's the only thing that leaves your device and you have a right to know. Without a key, the app works exactly the same. Just quieter.
What HabitGotchi is not
It isn't a care tool. HabitGotchi doesn't treat anything and makes no therapeutic claims. It doesn't replace support or treatment.
It's a toy. A small, playful, slightly silly refuge where absurd things happen. Nothing more.
Your data stays on your device
Your habits, your notes, your character: everything is stored on your device only. There's no central server, no account, no sync. Nobody, me included, can see what you write in it.
No ads either, no trackers, no selling of data. A few optional features (AI assistance, weather, notifications) make calls to outside services. They are described in detail in the privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free?
Yes, completely. No subscription, no paid features, no ads.
Do I need an account?
No. You open the app and start. No email address is asked for.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. HabitGotchi is a web app (PWA): it opens in your browser and can be added to your home screen, on iPhone as well as Android. There's nothing to download from an app store.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the app has loaded a first time, it works without an internet connection.
Do I have to use the AI?
No. It's off by default and the app is complete without it: the garden grows, the studio opens, the mini-games run, the habits get ticked. The AI only adds the Gotchi's thoughts, the weekly recap and the support mode. If you turn it on, you need your own API key.
Is there more to it than habit tracking?
Yes, and it may be the most interesting part: a generative garden, a studio with a mandala and a symbiote creature, mini-games, a shop full of objects, a calendar with notifications. Habit tracking is the excuse, not the destination.
What happens if I stop for several weeks?
Nothing. No counter resets to zero, no character dies, no reproachful message is waiting for you. You pick up wherever you like.
Who made this app?
One person, in their spare time, at first for their own use. It's an independent project, with no company or investors behind it, imagined, drawn and coded in Toulouse, France, under the name Lazy Mind.